Gripping means for landing fish



Sept. 20, 1949.

H. G. COMSTOCK GRIPPING MEANS FOR LANDING FISH Filed Dec. 16, 1946 K Rm Y m m M 2 l 8 N 0 Z 0 4. E E .rlll "hununqlI-'lnunl'll T --.I l. 111111 1| ,.llw. Il 6 r W A ..|||||l|..||\1.. Anllnvlllllllnlu hun l. E i 9 E a f H Y/ B I. au n 7 M o m/ 3 9 m \m f 2 L|||||d|l||l4nl|nl Ill .Il i ...l .|.w 2 U1-- Q 6 2 m u Patented Sept. 20, 1949 s PTENTQOFFICE GRIPPING MEANS Fon LANDING FISH Herbert G. Comstock, Minneapolis, y

Application December 1 My invention is related to an improvement in ,gripping means for landing a fish. While the gorging the hook, or, by breaking either the hook or thel line, and occasionally even by jumping out ofthe boat after it' has been successfully freed from the hook. To prevent escape during the steps of the landing operation, most anglers use an auxiliary device such as a gaff hook or a landing net, to aid in successfully bringing the fish out of the water prior to'relieving it ofV the hook. Although landing nets and gaff hooks have`=been used for considerable periods of time, they are not entirely successful in preventing the escape of the sh, for it often happens that a. iishwill leap out ofthe net, or escape from a gaif hook even though badly injured. Furthermore", either landing nets'or gaff hooks are rather cumbersome to use and to successfully apply whenthe fish is lighting vigorously.

My invention provides means' for overcoming the diiiiculty of landing a fish, by the use of a pair of tongs having serrated` surfaces which grasp the fish about its back andV body portions in such a. manner as to paralyze its muscular actions, so

that the sh is pacied when vit is landed. The,

advantage of the present invention is that a iish may be quickly and easily subdued by a pair of tongs, which are normally held in an open posi'-` tion and closed with a straight line manual movement by a portion of theV thumb and ngers so as to give the greatest amount;r of leverage to the tongs and to firmly hold the fish during the landing operation. Y n

An object of my invention is to provide a pair of tongs, having co-operating surfaces, which are resiliently held in an open .position and made closeable by a manual operation of a portion of the device.Y

Another object is to provide a pair of'tongs that are operated by a pair of link members in which both the tongs and links are provided with serrated surfaces to grip the backbone and muscles of a sh in such a manner as to paralyze its actions.

s, 1946, serial No. 7.1.6583

1 claim. (01.43--5) f Another object is to provide an anglers tongs that has a pair of serrated incising members Which vWhen applied to the body of a sh grip it in such a manner as to prevent its escape from the vserrated incising surfaces.

A further object is to provide an anglers tongs formed of a pair of pivotally mounted'curved serrated tines and a pair ofserrated links arranged'in a manner for grasping and holding the body of a sh by a manually movable member held by an operator between the' second joint of the thumb and the finger-s of one hand. Y

Other and further objects Will be apparent from the following description -and claim, and from theappended drawing in which:

` Fig. 1 is a plan'view of a pair of tongs; and

Fig-2 is a sectional elevation taken of the lines 2-2 ofFig. 1. j Y

Referring'now to the drawing, the structure will be explained in detail.

vReference numeral vIl) indicates a handle into which is fastened a pair of hooks II for attachment to the opposite ends of a lanyard I2. A pairof arms I3 and I4 are rigidly attached to handle I0. Shown beneath handle I0 is a second handle I6, to the opposite extremities of which areattach'ed a pair" of tubular members I8 and 26 that surroundV arms I3 and I4. A pair of compressionV springs 22 and 24 are located within arms I3and I4, one end of each of which is anchored to handle I6 as indicated by reference numerals 26 and 28.` A T-shaped member 30 isk welded between-tubular members I8 and 20 as indicated by reference numeral I9 and has its- 58 are each connected at one end to portion 40' of T-sh'aped member 30 by means of pivot 42, and at their outer extremities they are connected to tines 44 and 46'byzmeans of pivots 52 and 54. The pivots 52, 54 are located at least one half the distance between the pivots 48, and the free outer ends of the tines. Tines 44 and 46 are provided with a series of serrations which are obliquely cut from the outer surface of each of 3 the tines and extend inwardly toward their inner surfaces in such a manner as to form a series of sharp points on their inner cio-operating surfaces that will cut into the surface of the body of a fish if it moves outwardly in either direction with relation to the tines. Tines 44 and 46 are also provided on their outer extremities with angularly disposed sharp points E2, which will permit the ti-nes to overlap.4 Links 5 6 and V58 are in a similar manner provided withl obliquely cut serrations 54 which e" disposed on the incising" surfaces of the links in the same manner that serrations Se are disposed on tines 44 and 46.

In operation, the device for'rs the"4 present invention is particularlyl usefulmto :an angler in completing the landing'ogeraticfnriA a sh has been snared with? a'lfook and line;v and has been reeled into within reach of theangler as for example, in the Water adjacent the boat from which the angler is shing. 4Under these cbiditins' asA the catch is" brought up' close'to the' surface oi the water it isl generally fighting vigorosly and' is very apt' to gain its' liberty, either through breaking the hook or the line, or by y disgoi'ging the hook. A With th'e" lishing' pole held'inoneihand and the sh'reeledin to a point where it islwitl'in arrns reach of the angler, the tongs ar'jhveld' inthe free hand, withhandlel between' tlfierpalrnl of the hand" and the second j-omto' the thumb, and with the ngers inclus#` ing thesec'ondary handle fEf.. The devicev is moved in the direction1 of the sh and, if possible, inv suil a manrlegitnat the eaeisten@ 7 of the ssn is Eetwe'etih'es aal 46 nti1inks5t`, 5swth its backbone adjacent pivot 4'2. Then by squeezing hancies le', and it", rsh`aned time" 30mQvi'f1e galfSt the resilienceof springs v22 and 2li ^c auses an upward movement of portion` a whicthkthrough the pivotal connectionsat 42, sz,V and" 54 Causesl links 5l`rand ltommove the outer extremities of tines All and 46 in overlapping relationship to each other to embrace the fish within at least a portion-.of the' tineslandl between the serrated surfaces of links 5@ and 5. The en orm'ous amount; of leverage provided between the base of thejthumb'and the `fingers onthehandle membersv IU and I6"- is such that a very strong incising actionisT obtained between links-56 and 58` which' Wherrapplied tothe backbone and sidesA of a fish,- and: particularly when aided by thes'errated'surfacs'llahd" 52 on-th tines andli'nks', issu'ch that the ishfwil'l be paralyzed andV subdued to' docility. Under these conditions' an-dy with` pressurer still being appliedbetween handles; l0 and I6'the`flsh can be easily brought into'the boat'and'held' until the hook can be removed from itsl mouth and other means applied for securing theish' against ese'ape. Because of theV oblique disposition of the serrations on the tins and' thelinks, they willtendtoY cut into` the .body of` the fishA if it attempts to move eithei" backward i" forward to" escap'e'ifrom thet'ongs, and thus` it remains praci tidal'ly motionless:

.An important feature 'f the invention' is thel fact th'a't springs Z2 and 24 'exert aforce against' T-"s'hapedmem'ber Sil andllin'ks' 5Gand" 58 t'hld ti'nesd' and lema normally openpositionsothat n effort need b'e made' by the operator to open the tongs. This operation also causes the extensions 32, 34 of member 3l) to engage the upper ends of the tines which act as stops to limit the movement of the members I6 and 30 outwardly from handle l0. The arrangement between handles I0 and I6 is therefore such that the angler need only grasp at the fish with the device, and by a normal muscular reaction, quickly grasp the iish between thetines where it will b e held until rardi f6 kis released. v. j

furthr'advantage resides in the incising action of the links 56 and 58. If the device is manipulated so as to bring the backbone of the sh closek proximity to the pivot 42, when the handlel I6 is moved upwardly, the links tend to overlap, wh-ibir causes a powerful incising action to takeplace-immediately below the pivot. The cooperative effect of the links and their serratibns-fo'mpletely paralyzes the muscular actions of the fish so that the fish remains virtually motionless' while' it is beingV landed and the hook removed from its mouth.

It'will be apparent to those skilled in the art that'numerousV changesA or substitutions may be made in my-device' and thereforeI doV not Wish to be restricted to' the single illustration `buty rather to the' extent of the appended claim.

I claim: An anglers tongs Whichx comprises,` a rst handle member, apair or tubular arms `extending from` said irst handlemember, a pair of springsl located` withinthe tubular portions of said'arms, a secondl l'landle'member tubularly supported about said arms, a" T=shaped member carried by said' second'handle member and having its horizontal extremities extending through apertures in-said arms into abutting* relationshipwith said springs', a' pair. of mountedv adjacentu theiouter extremities of said arms and' held in'4 spacedl relation toeach other by said springs, and Va` pair of links pivotally mountec'lV at one endA tol said T-shapedv member and att-heir oppositev ends to said tongs for mov ing said tongs in* overlapping relationship withv eaclr other thea'djacent surfaces of`V said.- links havingY cooperating serrated surfaces and forme ingran' incising surface Vextending from said';

'Ffshapedf member which is operativev tograsp the bodyor aish and paralyzel its muscular actions when theseconduhandle is moved i'ntheA direction ofthe firsthandl'e'; HERBERT G.' COMSTOCK.-

` y Y Riinitiiniislerii Y The" fol-lowing rfrencs; vare of record in the: filLA of this" pat'n i Y OTHER REFERENCES ShakespeareA Co., Catalog No; 38A; copyright' incising tongs pivotally` (A copy of this catalog isl onVV 

